Opinion: The toll on this bridge is $4 — or just 83 cents, depending on which E-ZPass you have

States offer discounts for using their own E-ZPass, and that means less money for road repair

DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images

Are you paying $4 — or just 83 cents — to cross the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge in Rhode Island?

By

RenuZaretsky

Our family took a summer road trip from our Michigan home through Canada, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Spend 24 total hours in a car, and you can’t help but think about highways and electronic tolls. Our highways need improvements. Our E-ZPass tolls help, but I think they could help even more.

We we bought an E-ZPass transponder from Ohio. (Michigan doesn’t participate in the electronic toll collection system in 16 states and the bridge crossings to Canada at Niagara Falls.) We sailed through E-ZPass lanes on I-90 in New York and Massachusetts. “Beautiful,” remarked my husband. No lines at toll plazas. No fishing for singles and quarters to hand to toll collectors. And we saved money: Tolls are higher for those who pay cash.

Yet starting Oct. 28, Massachusetts will charge out-of-state E-ZPass holders more than its own E-ZPass holders to drive the same stretch of road. Some other states also offer their residents some kind of discount. But should a state charge a different rate to different E-ZPass users for the same type of vehicle? It sounds unfair — even unreasonable. Cash-strapped states could use the toll revenue for road repairs and other investments. It’s not as if gasoline taxes raise enough money.

As the Boston Globe reports, Massachusetts has been offering discounts to its E-ZPass drivers since 2002. But when the Globe and others questioned the constitutionality of charging out-of-state residents a higher rate, Massachusetts decided to allow any driver—no matter her state of residence—to use a free Massachusetts E-ZPass and pay a lower rate.

It’s a similar story in New Hampshire. Several years ago, a driver could save up to 50% on tolls on the New Hampshire Turnpike if she purchased toll tokens locally—something mostly New Hampshire residents would do. When New Hampshire moved to the E-ZPass system, drivers with its pass got a discount, too. You don’t have to live in New Hampshire to receive the discount, but you have to use a New Hampshire E-ZPass.

Rhode Island allows residents of any state to buy its E-ZPass, too. But the state offers specially discounted E-ZPasses to drivers with Rhode Island driver’s licenses or vehicle registration. My mother-in-law pays 83 cents to cross the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge with her Rhode Island-issued E-ZPass. With our Ohio E-ZPass, we paid $4. As non-residents, we could have purchased a Rhode Island E-ZPass transponder for $25 and enrolled in a 30-day non-resident program allowing six trips across the bridge for 91 cents per crossing. That was neither efficient nor cost-effective for our single planned day-trip.

My Rhode Island in-laws appreciate their resident discount. But you know what drives them really crazy? The poor quality of their roads.

Arguably, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island aren’t being unfair since anybody can enroll in their programs and enjoy a discount of some kind. If toll discounts matter that much, a driver could maximize her savings by getting E-ZPasses from multiple states. She’d just have to switch out transponders each time she approaches a state border: Not the best idea. Comical, maybe… and for many New England commuters, who cross state lines at least twice a day? Ridiculous.

This isn't to say that a state doesn’t have the right to encourage drivers to buy its pass, rather than that of a neighboring state. And it might have good political reasons to shift as much of its toll revenues as possible on to non-residents—who vote elsewhere. But I wonder whether it would be not only more fair, but more efficient, if states charged the same toll for anyone with an E-ZPass of any origin.

E-ZPass is a “beautiful” program, as my husband noted. Over 18.4 million drivers hold accounts in the program, and 2015 saw over 2.8 billion transactions. So many cars, paying so many tolls, so effortlessly. If states ended discounts for drivers with in-state passes, they’d collect more in toll revenue and, and ultimately, have more money for roads.

That’s the real trade-off. My Rhode Island in-laws appreciate their resident discount and object to toll increases—much like everyone else. But you know what drives them really crazy? The poor quality of their roads.

We get what we pay for. I think all E-ZPass users should pay the same toll for the same stretch of road—even if it means our tolls are a little higher. I bet I’m not alone.

Renu Zaretsky is a writer for the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. This has been adapted from a post on TaxVox, the Tax Policy Center’s blog, and reflects the opinion of the author, and not that of the Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute, or Brookings Institution.

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